ICredentialProvider::GetCredentialCount method (credentialprovider.h)

Article
10/13/2021

Gets the number of available credentials under this credential provider.

Syntax

HRESULT GetCredentialCount(
  [out] DWORD *pdwCount,
  [out] DWORD *pdwDefault,
  [out] BOOL  *pbAutoLogonWithDefault
);

Parameters

[out] pdwCount

Type: DWORD*

A pointer to a DWORD value that receives the count of credentials.

[out] pdwDefault

Type: DWORD*

A pointer to a DWORD value that receives the index of the credential to be used as the default. If no default value has been set, this value should be set to CREDENTIAL_PROVIDER_NO_DEFAULT.

[out] pbAutoLogonWithDefault

Type: BOOL*

A pointer to a BOOL value indicating if the default credential identified by pdwDefault should be used for an auto logon attempt. An auto logon attempt means the Logon UI or Credential UI will immediately call GetSerialization on the provider's default tile.

Return value

Type: HRESULT

If this method succeeds, it returns S_OK. Otherwise, it returns an HRESULT error code.

Remarks

This method is required.

When a Logon UI or Credential UI is ready for user interaction, a default credential is selected by default. Since each credential provider supplies a default credential, the following rules determine if pdwDefault will receive focus or if the credential will be automatically logged in.

If a default credential has already been specified, that credential is not intended to be used for auto logon, and the pdwDefault is used for auto logon, then pdwDefault will be used as the default.
If pdwDefault is from the last logged on provider and there isn't already a default with auto logon, then pdwDefault will be used as the default.
If no default has been specified, then pdwDefault will be used as the default.

If the number of valid credentials change, the credential provider should call CredentialsChanged on the ICredentialProviderEvents instance provided in Advise.

Credential Provider Best Practices

Credential providers handle extremely sensitive user secrets in order to complete logon and unlock requests. As a best practice, secret information such as passwords and PINs should be handled with the utmost care. Proper techniques for handling secret information within a credential provider are:

Always securely discard secrets. To do this, call SecureZeroMemory before freeing the memory used to hold any secret.
Securely discard secrets promptly after they are used.
Securely discard secrets if they are not used for their intended purpose within an expected amount of time.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows Vista [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2008 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	credentialprovider.h

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